It was a rather quick hour and forty-five minute train ride from Gare l'Est to Strasbourg Station. From there we walked to the apartment we were staying at which was right across the river on the Grande Île, the "island" which is the center of the city which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We were a bit shocked to find bag checks and road blocks manned by soldiers for folks crossing over to the Grande Île. I didn't know it at the time; but Strasbourg, along with being famous for having one of the best Christmas Markets in Europe is also the home of the European Parliament, the European Court of Human Rights, and the Eurocorps.
We settled into our apartment; which was huge......three bedrooms....crazy. And we loved the views across the river from the front door and the unit.
Here you can see the bridge we crossed and the security detail in place.
Like I mentioned above; the apartment we stayed in was large and so comfortable. And the details were kind of...well, interesting.
We took a nice short nap and awoke refreshed. We decided to head out and explore before finding the restaurant where we had dinner reservations.
During the Christmas Season (from November 24th this year, 2018) Strasbourg has an amazing Christmas Market.
Actually the term "Christmas Market" is incorrect, as there are if I recall correctly, 11 different markets (called "Christkindelsmärik") that occupy different areas of the island. The Grande Île is quite walkable, so we just started at the one closest to us at Place Broglie, which is also the oldest Christmas Market in the city, having been established in 1570!
Once the sun sets and the lights are turned on the city is transformed.
It's really hard to not get into the spirit of things with all of this joy, bright lights, the atmosphere is quite magical. Yes, I'm sure at its core there are commercial concerns, but man, you'd have to be a major scrooge to not get into the spirit of things.
The basic center of things is the giant Christmas Tree in Place Kléber. The market surrounding the tree is called the "Village of Sharing" and we were told that the stalls here sell their goods and food for charity.
Strasbourg is called the Capitale de Noël (the Capital of Christmas) and it's easy to see why.
Don't forget to look up.....there's something to see on almost every building.
Strasbourg Cathedral is quite grand as it rises above the city. The spire rises to 466 feet. The Cathedral, built in the Gothic style was, for over 200 years (227 to be exact) the tallest building in the world! Because of surrounding buildings and the size of the square, it's actually somewhat of a challenge getting the whole structure into a single frame. We'd spend some time visiting the Cathedral (for one main reason) the next day.
After wandering the stalls around the square we had to head off to find our destination for dinner.
I had wanted to try the traditional food of Alsace so I made dinner reservations at a Winstub. Strasbourg and Alsace as a whole sits on the Eastern border of France. In fact, the eastern border of Strasbourg sits on the Rhine. Across the river is Germany and the city of Kehl.
Over the last 350 years of so, control of Strasbourg has gone back and forth between France and Germany, so you can imagine the influences of the cuisine of the area.
We found our destination Chez Yvonne under another wonderfully decorated window, down a side street, close to the Cathedral.
A restaurant has stood in this location since 1870; and Chez Yvonne dates back to the 1950's.
We were seated upstairs. We enjoyed the Service which was friendly and the Missus enjoys Alsatian wines.
We started with the Goose Liver Foie Gras.
The was wonderfully creamy, though a bit too cold in terms of temperature. The flavor was on the milder side for Foie Gras....and that sea salt perfectly enhanced the flavor.
The Missus got the Veal Tongue which was super tender and quite mild in flavor.
As you can tell, this is hearty, meat and potatoes fare. Still, very nicely prepared, straight forward food. There was a mild vinaigrette dressing the tongue.
If you've read this blog long enough, you know the Missus loves fermented and pickled items. Thus I ordered the Choucroute Garnie….yes choucroute is what we know here in the states as Sauerkraut....and I'm truly aware that "Garnie" means "throw every kind of protein you can on the plate".
The Missus loved the cabbage; it was much more tender than what passes as sauerkraut here. I enjoyed the knack (the long snappy sausage) and the rinderwurst (the smoked sausage) the most. The pork and the liver dumplings were on the bland side. From this point on; the Missus and I decided to just hit all the sausage and choucroute stands.
All in all, this was a fun meal. The service was very nice and we got a taste of the rather heavy traditional cuisine of Alsace. Luckily, the only thing we'd had the whole day were croissants, so we were able to put away all this meat with no problem.
Chez Yvonne
10 Rue du Sanglier
67000 Strasbourg, France
Nice and warm, with full bellies we decided to take the long way back to the apartment.
The lights, the lively hustle and bustle, it just put us in the right frame of mind.
Yes, it's wonderful Strasbourg......
Capitale de Noël indeed!
Thanks for stopping by!
great adventure!
Posted by: kat | Friday, 21 September 2018 at 07:07 AM
Looks like an excellent place to spend Xmas!
Posted by: Soo | Friday, 21 September 2018 at 08:10 AM
The monkeys are a bit interesting (and scary) holding the light bulbs in room -
Posted by: Faye | Friday, 21 September 2018 at 09:49 AM
We enjoyed our time in Strasbourg Kat!
It is Soo!
The decor was quite "unique" Faye!
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 21 September 2018 at 10:12 AM
Christmas in overdrive! Sure looks magical.
Posted by: Junichi | Friday, 21 September 2018 at 10:42 AM
It was wonderful city and time to visit Junichi!
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 21 September 2018 at 01:52 PM